Click It or Ticket nabs 2,000 drivers in two weeks

Friday

May 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 30, 2008 at 4:37 PM

Over the past two weeks, more than 2,000 drivers received traffic citations when police discovered that either they or their passengers were not buckled up. During the enforcement component of Delaware’s Click It or Ticket campaign, which ran from May 12th through May 26th, officers conducted nine (9) Traffic Safety Checkpoints and 480 Traffic Safety patrols looking for individuals violating the state’s seat belt law. As a result they issued 2,347 citations to unbuckled motorists.

Over the past two weeks, more than 2,000 drivers received traffic citations when police discovered that either they or their passengers were not buckled up.

During the enforcement component of Delaware’s Click It or Ticket campaign, which ran from May 12th through May 26th, officers conducted nine (9) Traffic Safety Checkpoints and 480 Traffic Safety patrols looking for individuals violating the state’s seat belt law. As a result they issued 2,347 citations to unbuckled motorists.

What interests Office of Highway Safety (OHS) officials as much as the knowing that more than two thousand people were found unrestrained in their vehicles despite intense statewide publicity about Delaware’s seat belt law and the Click It or Ticket campaign, is the fact that the number of citations issued this year is 26 percent (827) lower than during the 2007 campaign.

“What we hope this means is that more people are buckling up than ever before and that we will see our statewide seat belt use rate go up,” said Tricia Roberts, Director of the Delaware Office of Highway Safety. “We truly hope this lifesaving behavior is increasing.”

Measuring any increase in Delaware’s statewide seat belt use rate will begin on Sunday June 1st as the Office of Highway Safety begins two weeks of statewide observational seat belt use surveys. OHS staff will survey traffic on roadways at 82 sites throughout the state and record whether drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts. Motorists on all types of roadways from interstates to two-lane roads will be observed. Survey results should be available by early July.

Office of Highway Safety officials remain hopeful that seat belt use has increased once again this year from its current rate of 87 percent. Seat belt use has increased dramatically since Delaware began conducting the Click It or Ticket campaign in 2002. At that time the statewide seat belt use rate was at just 68 percent but has risen by an amazing 19 percent percentage points in just six years.

During the Click It or Ticket enforcement period, law enforcement officers discovered more than just those breaking Delaware’s seat belt law. Police from the 29 State, county, and municipal police agencies participating in the campaign also issued 63 citations for violations of the state’s child restraint law, apprehended 42 wanted individuals, made 11 drug arrests, 8 DUI arrests and issued 1,389 citations for other traffic violations.

Officers conducted enforcement both day and night as part of this year’s campaign. National studies show that night time seat belt use drops by approximately 10 percent, even though a person’s risk of dying in a crash triples after dark. Observational surveys completed before the campaign revealed that this statistic holds particularly true in Kent and Sussex counties. So, it was no surprise when a nighttime traffic safety checkpoint in one of Dover’s low belt use areas resulted in 21 citations to vehicle drivers and passengers.

In addition to the enforcement activities, dozens of responsible race fans who received special coupons at checkpoints for buckling up, have registered to win one of five pairs of tickets to the Sunday September 21st NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway. The Click It FOR Tickets initiative is a partnership between OHS, the Speedway, and TEAM Coalition – a national nonprofit organization which rewards responsible behavior. Registration for those who received these coupons will continue through June 30th.

Finally, activities to promote and increase seat belt use took place in high schools statewide. Students, advisors, and School Resource Officers used tool kits provided by OHS to conduct surveys, make PA announcements, run ads on internal TV systems, and distribute items with seat belt messages on them.

In Delaware, everyone in the vehicle including both front and back seat passengers are required to wear seat belts. As a result of upgrading the state’s seat belt law in 2003, officers can pull over a driver if he sees any occupant inside the vehicle not properly restrained. The fine for a seat belt violation is $25 plus court processing fees.

Click It or Ticket is the first of three traffic safety campaigns under the state’s summertime safety enforcement and awareness initiative, “120 Days of Summer HEAT” (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic). The Summer Heat campaign is a four month long crackdown on traffic violators in Delaware coordinated by the state Office of Highway Safety. Since January 1st of this year, 48 percent of those killed in traffic crashes were not wearing seat belts.

For more information on the “Click It or Ticket” campaign or any of the Office of Highway Safety’s traffic safety initiatives, visit www.ohs.delaware.gov.

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